Dead Heat
by Styxswimmer
Summary: Cora was changed a year ago by her lover Corran, the Dark Master himself oversaw her initiation.  But now that Corran's gone and a past love, the Elder of her clan, Dominic, has come back, will she resist temptation while he's away on business or fall?
1. Worries

Cora walked through the forest, she needed to clear her head, it had been crazy this past year. Her lover turned her and then...then everything changed. Her initiation was hell, ironic as the definition was, her love was right, her initiator really wasn't crazy about her, but she was absolutely crazy about her love, so it all worked out fine. As she came to the edge of the forest she looked out to the distance, a huge mansion rose up, towers on either end and turrets jutted out against the sky, crimson colored bricks violently contrasted to the black that decorated the entire house, and shone oddly in the sun set. The sky was a play of reds and purples, oranges and pinks. She approached the large mansion, an aire of death and a baroque appearance was let off of it, as if entering would be a terrible, terrible mistake. Cora walked inside, a feeling of malaise coming from her, the double door entrance caused others to stare at her, some in contempt others in admiration. They were all like her, some just changelings and others were closer to elders. It was a safe-haven of all of her kind, they would never be turned away here, not while she was Mistress of the Manor. She walked over to a young woman, she looked approximately Cora's age, but it was hard to tell by just looks.

"Hello Bella." Cora's smooth scintillating voice wafted out as everyone returned to what they were previously doing.

"Hello darling Cora. How are you?"

"Perfect, and you?"

"Excellent, me and Rok are doing great, he's great to me, there's lots of potential there..._lots of it._" She said as she watched Cora chuckle. "But yeah, his lust is great."

"Don't I know it." Cora relates. "With Cor I barely ever get a break."

"I know how it is, sometimes you just want a break. But it's all good. Its good in your case though, because you and Corran really love each other."

"Yes, all of what you say is true, its just...sometimes he's just so, overbearing. That's why I'm left earlier. Do you know, is he here currently?"

"No love, he just left to hunt. Why things on your mind?"

"Good, he won't be back for a while. Yeah..." She says sighing heavily. "...I've got a crazy ex back in town, he was the vampire I was with before Cor, he didn't turn me, but there was certainly quite a bit of blood lost from me on his behalf. He was my first taste of undead sex, got it was explosive, he doesn't hold a candle to my love though." She says smiling to herself.

"Whom was it?"

"His name was Dom."

"Dom? As in Dominic Dom? He's an elder girl!"

"I know." Cora replies slightly abashed.

"So he's back huh?"

"Yeah, I just need to think for a while, that's why I wanted to make sure Cor was out, if not, I wouldn't actually get any comprehensive thinking done." She says smiling at the young girl in front of her.

"Well you go ahead and go upstairs, think, do whatever, I can go ahead and take the changelings out tonight."

_Shit, I completely forgot about taking the changelings out and teaching them how to hunt_

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"No, of course not, plus it'll give me an excuse to get away from Rok." Bella laughs.

"Alright, thank you so much."

"No problem, and you know, if you need to talk, I'm always here." Bella says, the vampress in front of her may have been her elder by a bit, but she was like a sister to her, her best friend, so Bella would do anything in her power to help her.

"You don't know what that means to me Bella. I'll see you later." Cora smiles as she heads up stairs.

She walked up stairs and down a darkened hallway, there was various things along the walls, roman columns, various torture implements, and glowing orbs to light the way, they were more for decoration than actual light she didn't need lights to help her see in the dark. As she approached the large door at the end of the hallway it just occurred to her to look at it, before she would just storm in or step inside without it giving it a second look, but this time she wanted to _look_ for some reason. It was large and foreboding, there were chains along it, the door was black as her evil heart, and there, if you looked just so, you could make out fingernail scratchings as if someone had tried to claw their way in. She pushed open the door as it creaked eerily, she surveyed the room, a large master bed, cloaked in blood red satin, a dark cherry oak buero against the wall and a chest of the same sorts against the foot of her bed. There were a set of large double bay door windows with black iron lining all the different lines on them, they were tinted with necro-glass, so no light could get through, just past that was a balcony, not overtly large, but large enough. There was a black silk sofa that was large enough to fit two that overlooked the cast iron and glazed glass railing that went all about the balcony. She laid upon the sofa, pulling her knees up to her chest and laying her chin on her knees. She looked out into the night, it was beautiful out, the starry sky was filled to completion and it honestly took her breath away, or it would if she still breathed. She pondered why he had chosen this time to come back, so lost was she, that she didn't even hear the door open.

_Why now, when everything in my life is perfect again, when I'm on top, when me and Cor are great? Does he just want to harm me? If he's come back to try and woo me, I won't survive it, I could never resist him, I never could._

"I never could." She whispers out loud, she jumps slightly as a firm hand comes down on her shoulder, rousing her from her musing quickly.

"Never could what?" He inquires overwhelmingly seductive voice, pitched low so it would take effect on her body. And so it did, chills passed down her spine and she shivered slightly as his breath caressed the nape of her neck. "What are you talking about love?"

"Nothing." She whispers again, he took what little self-control she had and swept it away, all she wanted to do was throw herself at him, but if she did that now, she'd never forgive herself, for there was only one person she'd be thinking about the entire time. Dominic. "I was just thinking, musing, its nothing serious." She says drawing a sharp intake of breath as he began to drop little kisses on her neck, she inclined her head to give him better access and his fangs scraped over where her pulse should be, drawing a sigh from her. He pushed a bit harder with his fangs, but not hard enough to pierce her skin. She turned towards his face, watching it carefully and she kissed him slowly and sensuously. He immediately responded to her kisses, grasping the back of her neck and kissing her intensely, however, she pulled away, turning from him, so only the back of her shoulders faced him. He kissed her between her shoulder blades and questioned:

"What is it? Your acting weird." He says kissing her again, each time bringing her closer, each time shaking the resolve not to do what she desperately wanted to do to him.

"Nothing." She said snappily.

"Liar." He replies smiling deviously, when she was mad at him was when their love was the best.

"Shut up! What do you know about it!" She shrieks at him, snapping her fangs in his face and he murmurs:

"Oh, so your in one of those moods tonight." And plops himself down upon the sofa.

"I'm not 'In one of those moods' as you so brilliantly put it, I'm just...I've got a lot on my mind right now and I'm not in the mood to fuck you senseless...okay?" She says looking over at him, her eyes were a pale, macabre orange, like a harvest moon.

"Alright. It's fine, I understand. I just sense a lot of tension coming from you, maybe sexual...maybe not. But understand this, if you need to talk, I'm here. Besides, it'll make you feel a whole lot less stressed about it." He says smiling slightly. She had never looked more beautiful than she did now, her hair, a delicate platinum color, almost silver, flowed down upon her pale shoulders, surrounding her almost like a cloak. Her lips were pursed sensuously, albeit if she knew it or not, and her tight, black satin dress clung to every curve, making her the most desirable creature on this earth to him, of course, he always thought of her like that.

"I know, but I'm still not going to, I need to be strong, you know that, none of them, the others, our coven of sorts, they've never seen me like this, I hate being vulnerable, I hate having these stupid feelings I cannot control." She says looking down as she runs a thin, alabaster hand through her silvery hair.

"Hey...look here." Cor says and looks at her as she looks up. "I love you. You know that, that's why I changed you in the first place. No one's here now, there's no one to see you break down, so why can't you just tell me what's bugging you?" He probes locking his green cat-like eyes with her own.

"Because, if you knew, if you knew some of the things I've done, and let happen, let's just say you wouldn't want to be around me at all, you'd hate all I am and what I've become." She replies holding his gaze unwaveringly.

He chuckles and gazes deeply into her eyes.

"I love ya too much to hate ya."

She looks deeply into his eyes and thinks.

_Maybe, just maybe he wouldn't hate me. Maybe he could understand, maybe he'd accept it, accept me. It was a long time ago, before I knew him, he has to know this was bound to happen, an ex pop out of the woodwork, then why do I feel guilty, I knew it too. Is it because he was a vampire? Or is it because he's an Elder? I don't know, but I just hope he can deal with it, because I've got to tell someone I know is capable of protecting me, Bella, she would do all she could but she wouldn't be much against an Elder who could be planning to seduce me again._

"Alright." She whispers and closes her eyes as she begins to speak. "What if i told you that I slept with the Elder Dominic before I met you..before you..I was with him for five years."

"It doesn't matter baby, your with me now, the past is the past." He says as he pulls her to him cradling her head against his chest.

"But he's back now, he's coming here, tomorrow, he'll be in our home, and I honestly don't have a clue what I'm going to do when he's here."

"I know, you'll be fine, I knew he was coming."

"You know!! Then how can you sit there and tell me I'll be fine?!"

"You are no longer his, your mine, there's nothing he can do, blood...is blood."

"I know I'm not his anymore, and I love you more than words can express, more than I could ever show you. But...you don't know how he is, love. I've never been able to say no to anything he says, he's always held something over me, I never have, ever."

"You can and you will. Are you stupid, your of my blood, and even if that weren't the case, you are the most strong-willed, headstrong woman I've ever met in my life. I can't even control you through our bond. There's no way he's going to be able to." He says comfortingly as he kissing her gently, and all he gets from her is her deep inhaling as if she's considering what he's saying but doesn't believe it herself. "Besides..." He says with an evil smile. "...if he lays a hand on you I'm prepared to kill him myself." And watches her amused smile and her laugh delicately.

"Aww...that's so sweet." She coos and reaches up kissing passionately, then she walks back inside. "He just---gyah! He makes me wanna..." She loses her control as her eyes look at him intensely and then divert to the iron railing and it catches fire.

"Oh great...and you could've just caught me on fire." He says boredly, he was more concerned with what she would actually do when he got here.

"I didn't. And I can't help the fact that he pisses me off, he just gets under my skin for some reason."

"Because you let him darling."

"I don't let him, it's just, sometimes I want to stake him more than anything on this earth, but I know I can't, I don't have anywhere close to that kind of power or speed, if I tried, I'd be dead in a second." 

"Your right, you would. Which is why I suggest you not trying anything while he's here to provoke him, if everything goes alright then he'll be here long enough to do what he has to do and leave, without any incident with you. Besides, I'll be by your side the entire time, he won't be able to try anything while I'm around." He looks at the skeptical look in her eyes, it was also written all across her face, and adds. "Come on, you need to relax, let's go relax you good and thorough." He says smiling as he picks her up in his arms and drops her on the bed slowly crawling up on top of her.


	2. Departure

Cora and Corran walked down the stairs and into the main room, located by the entrance. Cora was sporting a school girl prep sort of look. She hand on a short school girls' style skirt that was yellow and black, a pale yellow polo shirt, knee high black stockings, and black saddle shoes. She also had a black and yellow tie loosely hanging around her throat and her platinum colored hair had been pulled up into a high ponytail. Corran's hand gently slipped into hers and laced through it. They walked in front of the door and he pulled on her hand, signaling for her to stop.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? With me heading to L.A. For a couple days?"

"Yeah."

"Even with Dominic coming tomorrow?"

Cora looks down at the floor, admiring her shoes, and not saying anything.

"Hey---you know that I will dust him the second he touches you, right? You know what to do if you feel the seduction working, don't you baby?" He says making her look him and laying a hand on the side of her face.

"Yeah, I'll yell for you through our mind link."

"And I'll be here in a heartbeat, well figuratively speaking of course." He says smiling and in that moment, bright yellow locked in on cat-like green and they were lost. He grabbed her roughly and pulled her into him, his lips crashing down onto her soft ones and melding their bodies together, he pushed her against the wall and lifted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, passionate kisses became more needy and his hand slipped beneath her skirt, finding a way in between her panties and her sex, his thumb brushed over her crotch and she moaned in pleasure. He moved it farther and it brushed over her hidden nub and she let out a rather loud moan and then reached down to grab his hand, stilling it.

"We can't do this." She whispers headily.

"Why not, you love it, you know it." He says seductively, eyes glazed over with lust, and he begins kissing her neck, nipping at it.

"Because--ah..because, I don't particularly want everyone in the room watching us."

"So? I don't care." He says claiming her lips in another passionate kiss, and after her taking a moment to steady her breathing she replies: 

"I do." And she looks at him seriously.

"Fine." He says as he lowers her to the floor and she takes the opportunity to fix her skirt which her been spun around to her side, her shirt which had somehow gotten crooked, and her hair which was a mess.

"I love you. Have a nice trip." She says smiling as she pushes him out the door and she walks over to Bella.

Everyone who had been watching the scene returned their attentions to their partners or cliques. The outward display of affection between the two leaders was nothing new, although his hand slipping down was certainly something different, and they were grateful the Mistress of the Manor had stopped it when she did, otherwise they may have had to get a bucket of water to throw on the pair.

Cora walked over to Bella who was with Rok and Destiny.

"God see what I mean?" She says smiling as she sits down by the three.

"Yeah, I get what you mean now, I feel a little sorry for you." Bella laughs.

"Question, how many times do you guys have sex on average per night?" Rok says and receives a slap on the chest by Bella. "What?"

"Rok!! That's so inappropriate, and also, very personal. And..."

"Thirteen." Cora replies before Bella gets on in her little tirade, they tended to last for hours, and though she could use the distraction, she nor Corran for that matter, minded when people asked them about their sex lives.

"**THIRTEEN!!**" Bella and Destiny yell in unison, which draws a few stairs.

"Keep your voices down you two." Rok says as they return to the conversation.

"Wait...how?" Destiny asks, very interested in what her friend had just proclaimed.

"Very simple, well see, Corran has a big appetite and I barely ever get a break." Cora replies and looks at Rok briefly, then returns her attentions to the girls, who were gushing and asking a lot of questions.

_Rok, hey meet me outside in ten minutes, I've got something I need to talk to you about, it's about the Elder Dominic, that's coming. _Rok hears in his head, it was obviously Cora, it was weird, she never asked him to speak in private, Corran wouldn't have had it if he were there, Cor had never trusted Rok for some odd reason, besides the fact that he was a player and a pervert.

"Um...hey girls, I'm going to go out and go for a walk, the moon is very orange tonight, and besides, I've got to think about some things." She says, but they immediately speak up.

"No Cora, you know you can't." Bella says.

"Bella's right, since Dominic is coming sometime between tonight and tomorrow night, and he could be targeting you, you know it's best not to be out by yourself, it'll only make it easier for him." Destiny jumps in and supplies.

"I'll escort her." Rok says simply.

"And--wait what?" Bella asks confused.

"I'll go outside with Cora, since she wants to go on a walk anyway, and besides, Dominic won't try anything if there's another man there, that's not his style." Rok says, he was usually quite quiet, which is why it surprised Bella and Destiny when he volunteered and explained the way he did.

"Alright." The two say a bit dazed as they watch Rok and Cora dissapear through the darkened back entrance.

Across the continent, over in Paris, a dark stranger sat in the middle of a château, the sinister look on his face was very disquieting. He was very tall, skin the color of marble, long raven colored locks were slicked back on his head and emerald green eyes stared out haphazardly at the bodies on the floor. There was a girl probably only seventeen, one of the victims of this creature, bite marks on her neck, all color drained from her face, along with her blood. A young boy, he seemed to be only ten, the mirror image of the girl, his face was also blue from the lack of oxygen and his blood had been drained, they and various others, some adults, some elderly, and some merely children, were scatter among the floor, all the same, bite marks, pale faces, blood drained. A dark chuckle erupted from the throat of the strange man, he got up from the throne he was sitting on and crossed the floor, walking over to the window, he opened the curtain ever so slightly, being careful not to put his delicate skin in direct contact with the sunlight.

"Almost sunset...Soon my love...soon." He whispered darkly closing the curtain reverently. As he walked over to the bedroom just off of the sitting room he saw a young girl, she was his servant, and was human. "What is your name my dear?"

"K-K-Karie..." She trembled in his presence, she was truly terrified of him and she had good reason to be, he had made her watch him kill all those innocent people as a warning of what would happen if she ever disobeyed or betrayed him.

"Well my dear Karie..." He said drawling out her name like it was something that tasted good. "...would you please dispose of those bodies, we wouldn't want them to start smelling up this fine place, I'd love to return to it once our visit to the States is done."

"Of course Master. Is that where we are going? The States?"

"Yes, Brooklyn to be exact."

"Why are we leaving, I mean, it's probably out of my place to say, but it seems to me you love Paris a great deal, or at least are having a good time here." She says as she keeps her violent lavender colored eyes angled down as to not upset him.

"You are right, I do love Paris a great deal, but I have...unfinished business that I must take care of there, there's a lovely young women we are to meet, I think you will like her very much." He says chuckling as he senses her curiosity.

"Is she...like you?"

"Like me, and not like me, she is much more kind than I. She will probably try to kill me for keeping you with me and to serve me, she thinks much of humans, it will pass. She's only been an Immortal for a little more than a year. Still, I believe she will like you very much Karie. Which is very important to me, I take great stock in what she thinks of the company I keep."

"Then I hope that she will like me for our sakes." She says as she turns to leave and clean up the bodies.

He watches her go.

_A peculiar thing that one, I killed her entire family, and yet something told me to wait and save this one. That she would be useful in some way, well she certainly is, she can be my emissary in the daylight, and she's a kind and loving girl. You would think she would hold great resentment towards me, although I sense she does not, just some left over terror from the things she saw me do to those out there and those in her family. It seems...she would make a good pet, __hell__ if she's really good and loyal, I may even turn her._ He thinks to himself as he walks into his wardrobe, he picked out a black muscle shirt, and black jeans, as he swung on his leather trench coat he thought to himself. _Times certainly have changed since my day, I wouldn't have been caught dead in something like this, it was beneath me back then, and some of these things weren't even invented. Times change and I must change along with them._ As he swept into the night, his plane was waiting for him to reunite him with the one he left behind so many years ago. When he had gotten news that she had been turned he was certainly pleased, the fact that **he **had overseen her initiation himself was highly surprising. However, he was not so pleased when he had found out who turned her. The Dark Master's pride and joy, his right hand man, Corran. Yes, and supposedly they were in love and that's why he turned her and now they were running the Manor in Brooklyn like some kind of homeless shelter, helping the changelings learn the ways of the night and then offering them a place to stay if they didn't want to leave after their training had finished. _She's changed a lot too. Well we'll see how much she loves him when I turn up, if there's even a seed of doubt I'll know, I could never forget her over all these years, after all the women I've had, never did I forget her. This should certainly be fun._

A./N.: Well that's chapter two, I orginally wanted to write to a point past this for the second chapter, but the characters in my head wouldn't cooperate. This story was inspired by a MSN RP I had with my friend down in Texas, I haven't talked to him in a while which is probably why I made Corran leave for L.A. Sorry to leave you off on a cliffe but R&R and let me know what you think, any criticism, just be nice about, no one wants flamed and writers are more likely to take the criticism to heart if you write it in a nice manner. Also, if you have any ideas for the story and what kind of direction you think it should be going or anything of the like, I would also gladly appreicate and love to hear it. I hope you liked it.

!!StyxSwimmer!!


	3. Meeting

Rok and Cora walked in silence for a while, Cora was staring at the moon mesmerized by it until Rok places a hand on her arm and turns her towards him.

"What are you doing Cora?"

"What do you mean?" Cora replies innocently and genuinely confused.

"You know very well that Corran would never permit us to walk by ourselves, he doesn't trust me with that for some reason, so why did you pull me out here now after he only just left?"

"I'm so scared Rok..." Cora says as she turns her back to him walking over to the small stream they had in the garden, everything was covered in ivy and in the moonlight it all held an eerie glow. "...this is worst possible thing that could have happened, Corran leaving now. I can feel him, Dominic that is, he has just left Paris by jet plane, he'll be here in no time at all. I-I need you to do me a favor, watch me." She says softly as she begins to cry.

Rok comes over and puts his arm around her shoulder.

"What you mean Cora?"

"I mean when he's here, keep an eye on me. Corran doesn't believe me but I can't resist him, it's who he is, I've known him for so long much longer than Cor. The second he looks into my eyes he'll know everything that's happened to me since he left and will know any insecurities I have or if I'm not truly truly in love with Cor and exploit that to his advantage. And it terrifies me so much."

"Don't worry sis, I'll help you." Rok says wrapping her in a warm hug.

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Cora tossed and turned in her bed, she was so restless and she thrashed violently. The covers were completely skewed off of her. She was covered in a cold cold sweat and she was panting, suddenly she shot up out of her bed and whispered:

"He's here." She got out of bed, ran the brush through her hair quickly and climbed out her window onto the tree and slipped down it, the tree was right by the garden and as she landed gracefully as a cat on the ground, she walked over to the outside wall. There was a rather large opening in it, from which water poured and created the small stream the flowed through the middle of the garden. She stood by the steam, transfixed by the electric blue glow of the water in the pale moonlight, the slight breeze blew her platinum tresses around her face haphazardly and softly moved the short black baby doll night gown she was wearing. Her eyes fluttered closed as she listened to the sweet sounds of the night, a nightingale sang a beautiful song from one of the trees, a wolf cried out in the distance passed the manor in the mountains that resided behind it, and her black cat mewled softly.

Suddenly her eyes flew open, they had turned an emerald color, conflicted and confused. They angled on a stranger that stood just across the way. Emerald met crimson and within seconds he was in front of her, her eyes widened in shock but that was the only movement on her part, she was completely still, waiting for him to say something.

"Cora." He smiles placing a hand in her hair and running his fingers through it.

Cora knocks his hand away forcefully, hisses at him, and bares her fangs.

"Dominic..." She says low glaring hatefully into his eyes, hers had now turned yellow once again. "Don't...touch me. You aren't permitted to do that any more."

"Same old Cora, afraid of nobody, even when you should be." Dominic says as his hand grabs her throat bruisingly while he slams her against the wall. "How've you been my dear."

"I'm not 'your dear' and I've been fine, perfect even, now that you've been out of my life." She says through gritted teeth, she was only slightly lying.

"Tsk. That hurt, that really hurt." He says feigning hurt as he grabs his chest with one hand.

"What do you want Dom? Why now, why've you come back all the sudden?" She asks, gazing intently into his eyes looking for any signs of a falsehood.

"You should know the reason why, I've heard you were coming up in the world...well, _our_ world. I wanted to come and see how you were, and don't pass me over with that '_I'm fine, perfectly fine in fact_' bullshit, you and I know very well you aren't. So the question becomes, what's making you unhappy?"

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"Oh it's exactly my business. Why'd you let him turn you, if you wanted turned you know very well I would have done it myself." Dominic says looking at her, she was trying to avoid his eyes for the obvious reason, she knew that he could read her like a book with one look in her eyes, but she evidently wanted this not to happen, he'd have to find it out the old fashioned way. "Unless...he didn't ask you did he?"

"_No_." She says her voice very small.

"That's what I thought, you weren't ready to give up your other life were you. You had everything going for you racing, college, your various boy-toys, and he took all of that way from you didn't. He robbed you of your life, and expects you to be grateful, aren't I right."

"Yes."

"You poor poor soul. No wonder you've adapted this sort of charity work, helping the changelings find their way, but it doesn't make you feel any less alone does it? Even when your in his arms at night, you feel nothing, your completely numb aren't you?"

"...Yes..." She says as she sniffles and struggles to speak.

"He's so diluted the woman you were, you were strong, you never were lost, and you knew your way, did anything you wanted, but no more right? You don't know which way is up or which way is down, your whole world has been turned Topsy-turvy."

She just simply nods her head at him.

"Let's see if we can do something about that." He says as he leads her into the night.

A./N. Okay so this didn't turn out as I would have liked, and it's not as long as I would've liked but I think it's appropriate to end it at this place. Like I said, any critiques or anything you have to say about my story is greatly appreciated, and remember, it's your review that spur me to write.

StyxSwimmer


	4. Lesson

Dominic allowed Cora to first change her clothes before they departed. She changed into leather pants and a corset with a leather jacket, it was just long enough to cover her, about waist length. After she had changed he led her to an abandoned, mist-filled cemetery. She looks at him questioningly, but then another vampire approaches the pair.

"Tyler, good to see you, old boy."

"And you yourself, Dominic. What bring you here?"

"I'm merely teaching a lesson." Dominic says smiling at Tyler.

"Oh, and I assume that I can help you."

"Yes, yes you can."

"Dominic?" Cora asks nudging him in the side.

"Oh dear, how rude of me, Tyler this is---"

"Mistress Cora." Tyler says reverently with a slight bow. "She nursed me back to health after that run in with that vampire hunter, got me out just in the nick of time at great personal risk to herself."

"Is this true?" Dominic asks, if it was, it would make what he had planned a bit more difficult.

"It is, and I told you to stop doing that." Cora says addressing Tyler.

"Forgive me."

"Done."

"Now, Tyler, I want you to fight Cora, do not hold back, give it everything you've got, same for you my dear. This is a fight to the death, one will win, and one will be dust." Dominic says watching Cora's eyes turn a pink color as she looks at him like he was insane.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh he's serious Princess." Tyler says as he grabs her by the throat slamming her into the headstone.

Dominic watches Cora get thrown around into various objects all around the cemetery.

_Why won't she fight back? She knows she'll lose her life if she doesn't and still she doesn't fight him. Damn me all over again she's wickedly stubborn._

He observes her and watches her finally reverse the positions just as he is slamming her into the mausoleum. She claws him across the face and makes him fly into a tombstone and through it. He recovers and she's on him very quickly, he attempts to punch her but she catches his fist and throws him on the ground, then jumping on top of him and bludgeoning him with her fists. Tyler flips her off and grabs her throat, pinning her effectively to the ground, she kicks him in the balls and flips up quickly, as he recovers, she kicks him and he flies into a tree limb that pierces him through the heart and he turns to ash.

She's breathing heavily when she walks over to Dominic and glares at him coldly.

"What the hell did you do that for you prick?" Her eyes had turned crimson and blazed dangerously.

"To show you."

"Show me what?!"

"Your power, your stronger than you've been led to believe, but you haven't trained, to hone your abilities. If you were to train, you could hunt vampires, humans, vampire hunters, all alike, and kill them equally effectively." Dominic says as he watches her face soften. "You know I'm right, come on, it's time for us to go back, day break will come in an hour."

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As Cora slept she was plagued by nightmares, her head tossed on her silk pillows and tears streamed down her cheeks, as her hands kept clenching and unclenching the blanket she held up to her bust line began to tear. She bit down into her lip, drawing blood in the process and whispered a name, over and over again. _Tyler_.

_-Within her dream-_

_"Why Cora why? I did nothing to you."_

_"I couldn't help it, I had to. You would have killed me otherwise." Cora pleaded, he was blaming her for his death._

_"You could have stopped yourself, you could have refused to kill me. You could have fought me off, why Cora, why, **why**."_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cora screams as she wakes up, it was more of an inhuman wail than a scream, night had fallen and she had overslept, but she didn't care about that right now. She went into a rage, she smashed a picture of her and Corran, it shatter into pieces on the floor and she stepped on it, cutting her foot, she started to punch at the walls. There were many many holes in it.

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Down stairs

Bella was talking to Dominic when they heard loud thumping and crashing sounds accompanied with screams and they both looked at each other with a bewildered look upon their faces.

"What in the hell was that?" Dominic asks.

"Oh quite simple, that would be Cora, she probably just had a nightmare or something, she does this from time to time, no biggie." Bella explains casually.

"No Biggie? God, are all you people completely daft? That hasn't happened to her in years, I dealt with it but apparently this moron she's with has no clue, she's done damn good to hide it so far."

"What?"

"She has a conscience, a true conscience, and for a vampire, _that_, is very bad, I sensed it as soon as I saw her again, I don't know how hers carried over, but this is very **very** bad." Dominic says looking a shocked Bella. "Don't worry, I'll handle it." He says as he heads up stairs.

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Upstairs

Cora continued to punch the metal bar on the window, the windows had amazingly not shatter or cracked yet, but her fists were becoming very bloody. Dominic pushed on the door making it fly open and looked at Cora and her punching tirade. _Worse than I thought, she continues that much longer and she'll grind her bones into dust._

"Cora." He says simply watching her turn to face him and she blurs in front of him and begins to hit him. Not very effectively of course, but still hitting him. He had grabbed her by her waist when he felt her punches becoming softer and watched as she just barely pounded on his chest, crying a little bit, and finally she stopped, laying down her head. "Cora." He purrs softly, she was still in a very volatile mood. "What was the dream about?"

"How do you---?" She starts.

"I know you, you haven't had them for a while, but he doesn't know does he?"

"No."

"You've tried to hide them, but he's becoming suspicious isn't he?"

"Yeah, how do you know, how could you?"

"It was the same with us before you told me, besides, I can see it in your eyes, you've been hurt so much since I left. He's not right for you Cora, and I think deep down you know that." He says as he sees her eyes soften and then harden quickly, turn a blazing blue as she punches him across the jaw with such power that she knocks him down.

"**DON'T...even think you can talk about me and him, you don't know, you--you were the one that left me, all alone, so alone in my broken world. Do you think that was easy to get over? Do think that it was easy for me to trust someone again? Let them in, and when I do he does that to me!!??" **She yells and as she realizes what she says she puts a hand on her mouth and drops down onto her bed. She hangs her head in her hands and begins to cry and whimper softly.

"Yes, that's right Cora, you shouldn't feel guilty about it, be mad at him. You owe it to yourself to be. He took everything from you, and expected you to be grateful, you had to adjust to it in less than a night and put up this facâde with everyone, _**that's**_ why your having nightmares again. It was about Tyler wasn't it, he was blaming you for killing him, you know how I know?" He says hooking a finger under her chin and bringing up her head gently, making her look at him.

"How?" She asks miserably, a downcast look on her tear-stained face.

"I saw it, the second I looked at you, it's there for anybody who bothers to look, but all he wants is to ignore the signs, for you to front on being happy."

"No." She shakes her head and cries.

"Yes." He says looking directly into her aquamarine colored eyes. "Yes, it's true and you know it." And he kisses her passionately, her immediately responding to him.

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A./N. Well that's this chapter, I know, I left it off on a cliff hanger, but my ideas are honestly, blah. No more ideas for me And for those of you wondering when Corran is getting back, I'm thinking of bringing him back next chapter, but what you have to understand is Cora is really in love with both men, Corran for the obvious reasons, and Dominic because he knows her and is kind to her, and gives her something Corran could never give her. And this would be her delima, again, any suggestions and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I also want to know who you think she should end up with, Corran or Dominic, your decision, and I might just make it the person who in reviews is chosen more to be the one she ends up. Anyway, that's all for now, R&R!!

StyxSwimmer


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